The Last Days of the Wolf
by chrishuyen
Summary: What truly happened in the fairy tales? They didn't want to hurt anyone. They were just so desperate. A look at fairy tales from the wolves' perspective. Based on a play by Graham Russo.


**The Last Days of the Wolf**

_What truly happened in the fairy tales? They didn't want to hurt anyone. They were just so desperate._

**Origin:** This was based off a play written by Graham Russo, who wrote it for a summer camp I did a while ago, and I had the pleasure of performing in for its first public show. I made a few tweaks to it, cut a few things out, added some in, and ultimately turned it into story format. However, he gets credit for the creation of the concept, plot, and characters. I'm just the translator from play-verse to story-verse.

**Disclaimer:** As I said above, the concept, plot, and characters don't belong to me. All credit goes to Graham Russo for their creation. Also, credit for the original fairy tales goes to whoever made them up, or however they were created.

* * *

><p>"Okay, boys, I don't want to repeat this, so listen carefully. We haven't had a problem in a while, but if you do see a wolf, then make sure to yell and we'll be here to take care of it. Can you handle that?"<p>

The pasture loomed before them, as Cameron and Nathan stood near the gate, gazing over the vast white blanket of sheep. Cameron replied, rolling his eyes, "Of course we can, Dad. See wolf, yell. Easy enough, right Nathan?"

"Uh, yea. We'll make sure to do that, Mr. Rutherford."

Nodding in acceptance, Mr. Rutherford spared them one last glance before descending down the hill, the two boys watching after him. "Finally," Cameron exclaimed. "He never trusts me."

"Are you sure we should be doing this? What happens if a wolf attacks us?" Nathan glanced nervously towards the forest at the perimeter of the pasture.

"Relax, Nathan, everything's gonna be fine. If any wolves come, they're gonna attack our sheep, not us. And then we'll tell the villagers, and we'll be famous for saving a sheep. "

Nathan nodded at this, though his eyes still darted to the forest every now and then. After two hours of waiting, Cameron started to get restless. He thought for a while and then spoke up. "Hey, wouldn't it be funny if we yelled that there was a wolf, and everyone came up here. Wouldn't that be funny? " He raised his voice, "Wolf! Wolf!"

Nathan looked mortified. "Shhh! Your dad is going to get so mad at you."

"What would he know? We'll just say the wolf ran away."

"Where's that monster, I'll have his skin!" a villager proclaimed as he and many others raced up the hill.

"He ran away, we must have scared them off when we called," Cameron replied instantly.

"Are you sure, Son? Wolves don't do that. They always attack before leaving," his father replied.

"Yea, I'm sure, he just came out from over there and—"

"Do you think we're stupid? If a wolf appeared, the sheep would have at least moved, but they look the same way we left them. I can't believe I left my shop for this. I could be losing business right now, you know."

One by one the villagers descended back down the hill, grumbling complaints, Mr. Rutherford being the last. "I thought you would make good decisions. You didn't.

* * *

><p>"The crowd outside town hall erupted into discussion after hearing what the mayor had proposed.<p>

"Mr. Mayor, I don't approve of this plan. Building houses near the river could be potentially dangerous to the wildlife there."

"The forest is big enough for all the animals that live near the river. We could never affect them by just building a few houses."

"We need to take care of our basic necessities too, and that means more houses."

"Order, order, please proceed, Mr. Russo." The mayor's eyes swept over the crowd as he tried to quiet them.

"Thank you, Mr. Mayor. As I was saying, this chart shows the current need for housing and the expected demand over the next ten years," Mr. Russo paused to gesture to a chart set up near where he was standing, and then continued. "We need more houses. Otherwise, the town could be overwhelmingly crowded. Face it, this town needs housing, and our company will not only provide the housing needed, but also schools, fire departments, and parks, all free! The city will not have to pay a cent!"

"Thank you Mr. Russo." The mayor turned to face the crowd. "The public is allocated two minutes for debate."

"The public should be allocated 10 minutes," a citizen interjected. The mayor turned to face her, and found that she was the same one who had objected the plan before. _Stupid, insufferable woman,_ he thought. _These are the kinds of people who waste my time._

"Our time here is very valuable. Therefore, the public is granted two minutes, which by now is thirty seconds. I'm sure you understand. And our time is up." The aforementioned woman shot him a venomous glare before storming away, and the mayor lost sight of her in the crowd. _Serves her right_, he thought. _All she's doing is wasting time. Why she wants to pass up a deal like this, I can't even imagine. _The mayor turned back to addressing the crowd. "If you will please cast your vote here," the mayor gestured towards a table, "we will then have a fifteen minute break as we count the votes."

He turned to leave the podium, and on his way down the steps was intercepted by another person. "Excuse me, Mr. Mayor. I am the vice president of KJOS Construction Company. Besides all the things that Mr. Russo has already explained, I'd like to inform you that we'll be building you your very own house, right next to the river. After all, a man of your stature deserves to live in style."

The mayor puffed out his chest proudly at the praise. "I'm glad you see things that way. We are very grateful for what you and your company are offering us."

"The pleasure is ours. Here's my card. If you have any questions, feel free to call us."

The mayor took the card before tucking it into his coat pocket. "Thank you once again." He went off to the poll table to cast his vote. He definitely knew what he was voting for.

* * *

><p>Amita ran into the den, and started talking as fast as she could, trying to find words to convey what she had seen.<p>

"Calm down," Lupus told her. "Now tell us again, what did you see?"

"They're destroying the river! The humans have invaded the river, and now it's all rigged with traps. And I heard something about them building houses there," Amita wailed. "I hunt there almost every day; what are we going to do for food? How will we survive?"

"You can come hunting with us in the forest," Matra offered. "We have enough food here for all of you. And what kind of sister would I be if I didn't help out?"

"You don't understand though. No one will be able to hunt near the river anymore. Everyone will have to move into the forest. This is going to affect the whole wolf population."

"Oh no, what _are_ we going to do?"

"We'll worry about that later," Lupus said firmly. "We can always find other ways of getting food. But for now, let's eat. The cubs are getting hungry."

* * *

><p>Amita walked through the forest despairingly. <em>I swear, the more I walk the less food there is. How can I go home without food? Everyday my cubs end up starving. I just <em>have_to find food,_ Amita thought, as she continued.

After walking around for a while, and still finding nothing, Amita finally caught the scent of food. _And not just _any _food,_ she thought, _human food! I'll just go up to that girl and ask her if I could have some. I'll explain the situation, and I'm sure she'll understand._ With this in mind, Amita walked up to the girl in a red cloak with a basket over her arm.

"Um, excuse me, miss—"

"What is this? A _wolf_ is talking to me? Go back to your hole wherever you live, and keep out of the way of humans like me." With this, Little Red Riding Hood turned away from Amita, and continued on her path. Amita, however, wasn't ready to give up so soon.

"I'm sorry, but I just wanted to ask if I could have some of your food. You see—"

"NO! You're asking for _food_? This is _my_ food, go find your own; I brought this food for me and my grandmother, _not_ to feed to some random animals begging me for f`ood every step of the way. You would not believe how many of you creatures I've run into already."

Amita continued after her. "Please, Miss, I have cubs at home that are starving, just one loaf of bread could feed them for days. _Please_," she said quickly, for fear of being cut off again.

"No. How many times do I need to tell you? If you can't feed your kids, then that's your fault. That shouldn't mean you're allowed to come bother people like me. I'm leaving. Go bother someone else for food. Or better yet, don't. We don't need more wolves populating the forest," Little Red declared as she turned her nose up and continued on her way.

Amita was getting desperate though, and continued to follow her, hoping that maybe if she got Little Red off guard enough that would cause food to drop, or maybe Little Red's grandmother would be more sympathetic to the animals sharing the forest. _But of course, _Amita thought sardonically,_ all people act the same when it comes to wolves. It's always "Oh my god, it's a wolf, stay away from it. It'll attack you if you get too close._

As Little Red quickened her pace to get away from the wolf following her, so did Amita. However, as she moved faster she found herself paying less attention to her surroundings, focusing only on the basket of food dangling off Little Red's arm. She soon came to regret this tunnel vision, however, as she stepped into a piece of metal. Looking down in alarm, Amita realized that she was caught in a trap, with no means of escape.

"Ha, serves you right. That's what you get when you try to mess with humans. You should know better than to go around begging for food." Little Red had stopped running, and turned to face Amita with a victorious smirk. She continued on her way, talking to herself. "Why these animals come to me begging for food I will never understand. There's plenty of food in the forest!"

* * *

><p>The mayor gazed victoriously over the assembled crowd, as the final votes were being counted. The large projection on the wall behind him showed that only one percent of the town had voted against the new housing plan. <em>Probably that one woman again. Oh well, I still get my way in the end. That'll teach her to try to mess with me. <em>The mayor failed to realize that the result of the vote was not indeed the result of his decision alone, but that of the town population, and kept up thoughts of how great he was as he turned to address the crowd.

"I'm pleased to announce that after a near unanimous vote, the housing plan proposed by the KJOS Construction Company has been approved. Our town will soon have around 100 new houses, a new schoolhouse, another firehouse, and many other additions."

"Do you have a proper sewage treatment plan so that the river won't end up polluted?"

The mayor rolled his eyes at once again hearing that damnable voice. "I'll let Mr. Russo explain everything to you. Mr. Russo, if you would..."

Mr. Russo joined the mayor up on the stage, and leveled the aforementioned "damnable woman" a gaze, which clearly said he could care less about sewage treatment. "Trust me, ma'am, all the proper arrangements have been made. But this is the dawn of a new era! Imagine all the possibilities new housing can bring! You may not see it now, but this marks a great turning point in our lives! Just wait, who knows what this may bring!"

"Also, if I might add," the vice president interjected, "these new houses produce much less waste than older houses, so sewage won't be as much of a problem. So I'm sure you'll be glad to know that our housing plan won't affect the forest very much, if at all.

* * *

><p>" "Where's Mommy?" Connatus asked. "She never misses dinner."<p>

Avun and Matra exchanged worried looks, but Avun said, "I'm sure she's just out hunting and lost track of time. She'll be here soon."

"Well, I hope so," Nepta declared "She always tells us the best stories before bed."

"Nuh uh, MY mommy does. Her stories are better than Auntie's, right, Natus?" Catula glared at Natus, daring him to contradict her.

"Yup!" Natus nodded happily, not paying attention to the threatening tone Catula had used. "Our mommy's stories beat your mommy's stories any day."

The four cubs dissolved into argument about whose stories were the best, just as Lupus reentered. Catula and Natus squealed, running over to him. "Daddy's home!" they chanted.

"Time for dinner everyone. Guess what we're having." Lupus smiled at them. Despite the rough times, cubs would be cubs.

"Mice and squirrels again?" Natus made a face.

"No, you silly, can't you smell that? It smells like...it smells like..." Catula fumbled for the right smell.

"That's chicken, dear," Matra filled in for her.

"And quite a large chicken, too. Wherever did you get that?" Avun asked somewhat suspiciously.

"Later," Lupus replied in a low voice. "For now, let's eat."

"I hope Mommy comes back soon. I can't wait for that story!"

* * *

><p>"Mr. Wolf, Mr. Wolf, where are you?" Peter called into the forest. He had been waiting for a few minutes for Lupus to show up. "I have another chicken for you."<p>

"Peter?" Lupus called back. "Is it safe to come out?"

"Yes, there's no one here, I checked."

Lupus sighed in relief. "Thank you so much Peter. You don't know how much this means to me and my family."

"It's alright," Peter replied. "We have tons of chickens. No one will notice if a few are missing. Besides, I don't want your cubs to starve. The mayor and all the people who are part of the KJOS Construction Company should realize how much habitat they're destroying by building all those houses!"

The first time Peter had encountered Lupus, he had not screamed and run away like most would, but instead, asked what he was doing. The story about the new houses and the lack of food came out, and Peter began to sympathize with the wolves. Since then, Peter began bringing chickens to Lupus every week.

"I'm glad _someone_ sees what's happening. But I should get going before someone else comes. Thanks again for all your help."

"No problem. I just wish I could _do_ something though. But whenever I try to tell them, they're always like 'You're too young; you wouldn't understand; wait till you're older' ugh. But I'll keep bringing you chickens. Anything that helps."

Lupus nodded gratefully, unable to speak with the chicken in his mouth. He turned towards the forest, but barely made a few steps before he was caught in a trap.

"Mr. Wolf, are you alright?" Peter asked in alarm.

"I think so, but I can't get out of this," replied Lupus.

"Let me help. We should hurry before the hunters come." Peter struggled to free Lupus from the trap, but the effort was futile.

"Step away from that beast!" yelled one of the hunters as it came running up.

"Look at that, it came here to steal a chicken," said another.

"No! Let him go, he's just trying to feed his family," Peter tried to explain.

"Heh, did he tell you that? You can't trust the word of any of these mongrels. But you're still young so I understand. Now be a good little boy and go back to your parents while we take care of this monster."

"No, you don't understand—" Peter was cut off as one of the hunters took him by the arm and half-walked, half-dragged him back to his parent's house.

"Come on now, Boy, let's get you back home."

Peter tried to fight his way out, but it was useless as the hunter's grip was steely. All he could do was stare hopelessly at Lupus as he was carried away by the other hunters, still in the trap.

* * *

><p>In the wolf den, both Matra and Avun were very worried. "What's going on?" Matra asked. "First my sister, now my husband? Where could they be?"<p>

"I would say we go look for them, but who know what could happen to us out there, and we need to take care of the cubs _and_ find food as well," Avun replied.

"We'll have to tell them," Matra said fretfully.

"Yes," agreed Avun, "but we have to be careful so we won't alarm them."

"Cubs," Matra called, "come here."

"What is it, Mommy?" Catula asked. "Did you find out where Daddy and Auntie are?"

Matra sighed heavily. "Well, children, you see, the truth is that we don't know where they are, and we're afraid that something may have happened to them."

Both Matra and Avun watched as the cubs' eyes widened in horror, and then surprisingly settled into a look of determination.

"Well that means we'll just have to go out and find them, won't we?" Connatus asked. The other cubs quickly chimed in their agreement.

"It's too dangerous," Avun said, disapprovingly. "Besides, they would have wanted you to stay safe."

"But, but—" The cubs weren't so ready to give up yet.

"No buts," Avun said firmly.

"We should vote. Daddy always said we live in a democwatic society," declared Natus. "I vote we go out and look for them."

"Me too!" all the cubs chimed in their agreement.

"The answer is no. Now off to bed, all of you. In the morning I need to go out and hunt, we won't be having chickens anymore, I'm afraid," Avun commanded sternly.

The cubs grudgingly went to bed, whispering plans about what they would do if they were allowed to go out and look for Amita and Lupus, and about how grown-ups were so unfair and didn't let cubs do _anything_.

* * *

><p>"Ugh, I'm so bored," Cameron complained to Nathan.<p>

Nathan looked alarmed. "Just don't yell 'Wolf' again. You saw how mad those people got."

"It was funny. Besides, it's not like it hurt them or anything… Besides, I'm really bored," Cameron retorted.

"But won't your dad be really mad?" Nathan asked.

"So what? What'll he do? He's got other stuff to take care of. Besides, there's nothing else to do here."

Nathan sighed. "If you're so eager to lose your head, so be it."

Cameron looked at his friend, somewhat disappointed that Nathan refused to join in. He shrugged his shoulders and continued on. "Wolf!" he cried. "Wolf!"

After a few minutes, the townspeople once again came charging up the hill, screaming profanities about what they would do if the wolf had laid a single claw on the sheep, and what they would do if they just saw the wolf regardless.

"Okay, Cameron, where's the wolf?" Mr. Rutherford asked sternly.

"Wolf, what wolf? Are you sure you're not hearing things?" Cameron desperately tried to wipe the sweat off his palms under his father's scrutiny. "No one yelled anything, right Nathan?" Cameron nudged his friend, in a last desperate attempt to save himself.

"You did yell," Nathan replied, hoping to teach his friend a lesson. Turning to the crowd, he said, "I tried to stop him, but—"

"It's alright, Nathan," Mr. Rutherford reassured him. "You can go home now. I need to have a word with Cameron."

Nathan nodded, and quickly followed the townspeople back down the hill, glad he wasn't on the receiving end of "a word" from Mr. Rutherford.

* * *

><p>Matra found herself in front of three curiously built houses. <em>I wonder who lives here, <em>she thought. _Who would build their houses out of straw and sticks? They don't look very sturdy to me. But I can smell food coming from the chimney. I'll just ask if I can have some._

Matra timidly walked up to the first house, made of straw, and knocked on the door. A very grumpy looking pig opened it. "Yes?" he inquired.

"Ah, sorry to bother you, Mr. Straw Pig, but you see, my cubs at home are starving and there's no food in the forest and—"

"If you're looking for food, you've come to the wrong place. We don't give out charity here. Especially not to you _wolves_. And stop talking so loud. Can't you see you're messing up the foundations of my house with your breath?" With that, the straw pig slammed the door in Matra's face, leaving her standing on the doorstep with the rest of her sentence half-formed in her mouth.

_Oh well, _she thought, _there's still the other two. And I'm pretty sure slamming the door isn't good for your foundations either…_ Matra thought spitefully as she walked over to the next house.

"Excuse me," she said as the door opened, "would you mind sparing some food? I'm terribly sorry to ask, but my cubs are starving and there's no food to be found in the forest. So…" Matra trailed off uncertainly. The pig in front of her certainly didn't look friendly, but she was still hopeful.

"No" was all that was heard before Matra ended up face-to-face with the door.

_Well then, that certainly didn't work._

Matra walked up to the next house, intent on salvaging at least _some_ food for her cubs. This one was made out of bricks, so maybe the occupant had more sense than its neighbors, and would see the situation she was in.

Matra knocked on the door, and then swiftly began talking as soon as it opened. "Sorry to bother you, but my cubs really need food, and I would be forever grateful to you if you could provide us with some."

The pig in front of her stared at her incredulously. "You're asking _me_ to give _you_ food?" he asked, not quite sure what was going on. "Do you know how many of your kind has killed our kind?"

"Yes, well, I'm very sorry about that, but I assure you that I've had nothing to do with it. And I have these cubs at home, and they're innocent, and they're starving. Any food you could provide would be a wonderful help."

The brick pig just stared at her, before trying to close the door. However, his efforts were thwarted as Matra expected this course of action and planted her foot in the way.

"Please," she begged, "my cubs need this. They—"

The pig pushed her out of the way mid-sentence and quickly closed the door before she had time to react.

Matra stared at the door, once again being cut off mid-sentence. _Oh well, _she thought, with a fierce light in her eyes, _I'll just have to take some myself then. Judging from the smell, they have plenty to spare._

With that thought, Matra jumped up onto the roof of the house, and peered down the chimney, trying to figure out what the best way to climb down and get the food.

* * *

><p>Cameron sighed, having been once again put on sheep watch. Nathan smiled almost happily beside him. "Well I'm glad you learned your lesson," Nathan told Cameron in a tone that was much too bubbly for Cameron's liking. "But next time, you should figure it out by the first time."<p>

Cameron gave Nathan an annoyed stare. "I know, I know, alright? Just leave me alone."

Nathan only smiled as he surveyed the land in front of them. His eyes rested on the edge of the forest. "Hey, Cameron, is that a wolf I see?"

"Quit bugging me about it okay? I learned my lesson; I'm not going to give false alarms anymore."

"No, seriously," Nathan said, tugging on Cameron's arm and pointing in the direction of the forest, "what's that?"

Cameron stared. "Oh my god, that _is_ a wolf. We need to alert the villagers."

"Wolf! Wolf!" both boys called out.

"Why aren't they coming?" Cameron looked around nervously. The wolf had already advanced on a lamb.

Realization dawned on Nathan. "They think you're playing a trick on them again. They must think you're lying again, and just got tired of it."

Both boys stared at each other in horror, unsure of what to do, as a wolf dragged a lamb back into the depth of the forest.

* * *

><p><em>Finally, some good luck<em>, Avun thought, as he dragged the lamb through the forest, back to the den. _This'll feed us for a few weeks at least…maybe even a month!_

Unfortunately, the sound of the lamb scraping the leaves and branches in the forest had alerted nearby humans. "What's this?" one of the hunters said, as he gazed down Avun's form. "Looks like one of the wolves got a lamb."

Avun tried desperately to get away, but he was unwilling to leave the lamb behind. He was _so close_ to victory, but it escaped him at the last moment. The hunters quickly advanced on him, and caught him in a net.

"Well, well, well. A lamb, eh? You'll be in some mighty big trouble I tell you." The hunter holding the net grinned down at him. Avun ceased struggling. He knew there was no way out now.

* * *

><p>"No one's been home for <em>days<em>, we need to go look for them," Catula announced to the other cubs in the safety of their den.

"But you heard what Auntie said," Connatus said, somewhat apprehensively. "It's too dangerous for us to go out alone. We're just cubs after all. We don't know how to hunt…or fight…or anything…"

"But we can't just stay here," Nepta argued. "How will we get food? How will we eat? If we go, then we might at least have a chance of getting something to eat. And we could stick together and that way we'll be safer if we just went by ourselves…"

"We don't have a choice," Natus declared. "We have to leave."

"You're right," Catula agreed, assuming the role of leader. "Get your things. We won't be coming back."

"Never?" Connatus asked fearfully.

"Never," Catula said firmly, as they walked out the entrance.

All four cubs turned back to look at what had been their home for as long as they remembered. "Good bye, den," Natus said softly.

* * *

><p>The crowd of villagers was once again gathered in town hall, this time forming a circle around the bloody lamb on the ground. They instantly broke into conversation.<p>

"I knew this would happen. Those wolves have overstepped their boundaries once and for all."

"We need to hunt down every last one of them to make sure nothing like this happens once again."

"They'll be going after us next. Once they run out of livestock to steal, they'll be going after our children. We must stop them."

The hunters stood proudly to the side of the lamb. "That wolf thought he could get away with stealing one of our sheep. But he wasn't any match for us. We caught him in that net and he tried fighting it, but he was no match for us; we _destroyed_ him. We just need to go into that forest and show them who's boss."

"Order! Order!" the mayor called the attention of the crowd, who immediately quieted. "Due to the request of several people, I propose that we should stage a hunt for all wolves in the forest, and show them their place." There was a sinister gleam in the mayor's eye.

The crowd erupted into cheers of agreement. One of the hunters stepped onto the stage. "Go get your weapons, and anything else you might need. Everyone is welcome to come and watch; we meet back here in five minutes."

The mayor watched as the crowd disappeared almost immediately, heading back towards their houses and shops. _Oh, how I love being the head of such a unified town_, he thought, before he too went to get ready.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** So a little mix of fairy tales with a dash of other real-life situations. Once again, this brilliant plot and concept was not my idea, but Graham Russo's who wrote the original play. I only get credit for turning it into a story and adding some details. Though I think it turned out quite well. I've been told it gets a little tedious in the middle, though, so I'd like to hear what you think. Comments, suggestions, and constructive criticism are always welcome!

~chrishuyen

_Word Count: 4,611  
><em>_Posted May 27, 2011__  
><em>


End file.
